Post by Anomonyous on Dec 22, 2011 20:47:02 GMT -5
Carnotaurus, whose name literally translates to "meat eating bull" in latin, is a large predatory dinosaur. Estimates of its size place length as 8 meters (26 feet) , with weight as 1.6-2.9 short ton (tons). The most distinctive features of Carnotaurus are the two thick horns above the eyes, and the extremely reduced forelimbs with four basic digits, though only the middle two of these ended in finger bones, while the fourth was splint-like and may have represented an external 'spur.' The fingers themselves were fused and immobile, and lacked claws. It is also characterized by its unusually long neck (compared to other abelisaurs), and its small head with box-shaped jaws. The eyes of Carnotaurus faced forward, which is unusual in a dinosaur, and may indicate binocular vision and depth perception.
There is a rather puzzling contrast between Carnotaurus’ deep, robust-looking skull and its shallow, slender lower jaw. So far no-one has worked out what this might imply about its methods of feeding. The bite of carnotaurus was found to be weaker than that of allosaurus', although faster. Its teeth are somewhat small for a carnivorous theropod of this size.
Recent studies have theorized that carnotaurus was a highly mobile animal, with an adaption for speed found only in it and the giant carnivorous theropod tyrannosaurus.
Read more at enwikipedia.org/wiki/Carnotaurus..
